1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device manufacturing apparatus and a device manufacturing method provided with a discharge head capable of discharging a droplet.
Priority is claimed to Japanese Patent Applications No. 2002-309584, filed Oct. 24, 2002, and No. 2003-301295, filed Aug. 26, 2003, which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Heretofore, photolithographic methods are used, primarily, for manufacturing devices with fine patterns. However, in recent years, attention has been given to a device manufacturing method using a droplet discharge system. In this technique, liquid material containing functional material is discharged from a discharge head in a droplet discharge apparatus, placing the material on a substrate in order to form a pattern, and it is very effective from the standpoint of handling diversified small-quantity production. For a droplet discharge system in a droplet discharge apparatus, generally known systems are a piezo jet system in which a droplet of liquid material is discharged by the distortion of a piezoelectric element, or a method in which liquid material is discharged by the rapid generation of steam due to the application of heat.
A discharge head has a plurality of discharge nozzles. However, sometimes liquid material cannot be discharged from some of the discharge nozzles because of clogging, or the like, for example. If there is a discharge nozzle (non-performing nozzle) that cannot discharge liquid, then dots will be missing when a dot pattern is formed by discharging droplets onto a substrate.
The techniques disclosed in the abovementioned patent literature are techniques related to a non-performing nozzle detection method applicable to a printer. Since the print operation by a printer is not one which is carried out regularly, it is normal for the non-performing nozzle detection operation to be carried out prior to starting the print operation. On the other hand, the discharge operation which discharges liquid from a discharge head in order to manufacture a device is for example carried out all day long inside a factory. Consequently, when manufacturing a device using a droplet discharge method, setting the timing for the non-performing nozzle detection operation to an optimum, is effective in improving the productivity (throughput) for the device.
The present invention takes such conditions into consideration, with an object of providing a device manufacturing apparatus and device manufacturing method which can perform detection of non-performing nozzles without a decrease in throughput, and manufacture devices having a desirable performance without missing dots, when manufacturing a device using a droplet discharge method.